Models of sacred space

Abstract

The purpose is to create models of sacral space and the task is to analyze the structure and genesis of sacral space.

Research methods. The creation of sacred space models in geography is predominantly driven by naturalistic, phenomenological and temporal approaches. The methods of their study include: a) habitual structure of geographical space and its forming natural, anthropogenic and natural anthropogenic landscapes; b) perceptual-cognitive interpretation of the sacral space, which is significantly different from the previous version; c) eschatological perception of processes in the landscape.

Results. In forming the models of sacral space, the study paid attention to the peculiarities of space and place. The authors noted that their concepts could be quite antagonistic, which would have an impact on the research model. This approach allows creating models of sacral space with elements of its filling: natural and phenomenological; given the time aspect – eschatological. The natural model is built on the juxtaposition of "sacred" and "profane" in the sense of "heterotopia" as a territorial component. Covers both anthropogenic, natural-anthropogenic, and natural objects and landscapes. The categories "sacral" and "profane" form a vertical bipolar system, the axis of which is "hierophany." Heterotopia includes anthropogenic cores – religious (cult) objects and landscapes, and natural ones – part of the polytheistic subclass of the pagan and neo-pagan group of variants of the class of sacral landscapes, as well as places of force associated with geoactive structures. Phenomenological model is developed based on formation in the person of feeling and contact with the "divine", for the formation of which perceptual-cognitive interpretations of space are applied. It is proposed to include a liminal space in the structure of the phenomenological model, which will include the extension of the hierophony axis above and below the "heterotopic" plane. The eschatological model is based on the theory of catastrophism, which assumes that abrupt and global environmental changes are caused by abrupt natural processes (flood, volcanic eruption, earthquake, impact event, geomagnetic inversion). In religious sources, similar processes are analyzed in eschatology, where cyclical and linear concepts of sacral space development are predominant. The eschatological model has certain features: the singular point coincides with the point of the "apocalypse"; the level of sacralization increases, but with its increase, the time of natural rhythms and cycles decreases and shifts, and the amplitude oscillations become larger, which is reflected in the manifestation of the main eschatological features; after passing the singular point, the amplitude oscillations of the natural rhythms are slowed and smoothed; a new landscape sphere is forming.

Scientific significance. Research aspects define the interpretation of sacred space as one that combines material and spiritual; certain places in the ethnocultural region that have signs of the interaction between the ethnos and the sacred. In the model of sacral space it is expedient to distinguish the categories of topical (hierophany) and choral (hierotopia) components; to distinguish in hierotopia: sacral and profane, sacred and religious space, heterotopia and liminal component. The natural model is part of the space landscape sphere and consists of ritual and cult objects that form an ethnocultural region and in a heterotopic sense, sacral landscapes. The selection of the phenomenological model allows us to consider the sacral space from the standpoint of liminal space, and accordingly – it can be irregular, spatial and go beyond the chronological and spatial perception of the sacral. The eschatological model will reveal the temporal aspects of sacred space, the evolution of which is subordinated to a "global catastrophe". The change in the structure of the sacral space occurs abruptly, with partial or complete destruction of the landscape sphere and elimination of the biotic component.

Practical significance. The proposed models of sacral space significantly expand the existing subject of sacral geography, anthropogenic and ethno-cultural landscape studies. Their application will allow to deepen connections in the interdisciplinary fields of geography, religious studies, philosophy, and cultural studies.